NitroXAdministrator
(.700 member)
12/01/25 12:44 AM
Re: One Day WDM Bell went to London

Quote:



He wrote another article in 1950 called the "The Neck Shot" for AMERICAN RIFLEMAN

"Bell’s forest was fairly modest however it was still a deer forest . Bell had a “mild " heart attack in 1948 and did not venture onto the hill much after this , preferring to “pot “ rabbits around his house , sometimes with Clarke . (A gunsmith friend of Bell's, and business partner of the writer's father.) However one year , guest rifles on the Corriemoillie forest wounded a stag ,whilst Clarke was in residence . They failed to secure the stag for 3 days despite it being seen on a couple of occasions “swinging a foreleg “ This state of affairs annoyed Bell immensely and he hatched a plan to take Clarke onto the hill in a pony and trap . after dropping Clarke off on the “ downwind “ end of the piece of ground , Bell and the driver would proceed as far as the trap could go , up wind and hope to move the stag , possibly in Clarke’s direction . If this failed then Clarke was to stalk up wind and try to find the Stag.

Well they got up onto the hill , Clarke armed with a very accurate ‘scope sighted 30-06 of his own make and Bell carrying a 318 , a companion that had slain many Elephants 30 years earlier . Nearing the spot Bell wanted Clarke to alight , up got a stag some 200 + yards away , a quick inspection confirmed the amazing luck that this was the one they wanted as it had a foreleg smashed just below the brisket .

Clarke slipped out of the trap unseen whilst the stag stared at this unusual interloper into it’s domain . Clarke crawled forward for a few yards , steadied himself , controlled his breathing and shot .

He missed the stag completely ; which now lurched off broadside to him , Clarke cycled the bolt and started to take aim when a shot rang out close by and the running stag pitched head over heels into the heather . Clarke looked up to see Bell slumping down in the trap ,which was moving around due to the skittish behaviour of the pony which had once again been scared by a rifle shot at close quarters and was giving the driver some anxious moments trying to control it .

When Clarke got to the stag he found it shot through the neck just forward of the shoulder , he gralloched it and dragged it back to the trap where Bell asked if it had been neck shot ? When told the affirmative the old man smiled and said “ my timing is not what it was , I was lucky not to miss it by shooting too far infront “ Clarke was amazed , this 70 year old man , in failing health had deliberately taken and pulled of the most amazing shot , as Clarke put it “I had ever witnessed with either a shotgun , rifle or pistol “ and this achieved by a heart attack survivor of about 70 years old ,standing up , shooting off hand without any sort of rest , whilst perched on an unstable and moving platform , with an open sighted rifle at an animal lurching at speed over uneven ground ."





Good story. Thanks for posting.

I like the use of the pony and trap in this story. It harks back for me to a method described in an old large hard cover hunting encyclopaedia I have. I love that old book, old as in 1960s or 70s probably. Pictures! Described is a peasant method of hunting deer. The horse and hay cart or wagon is driven along the track past the fields with deer. As the wagon passes some trees or bushes, the hunters jump off unseen. The deer watch the wagon continue on its way and continue feeding. The hunters can shoot or stalk closer to the now undisturbed deer.

So simple but so effective. And in use by WDM Bel in the story.



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